On Friday evening the last eight matches of the first round of the German Darts Championship 2024 will be played in Hildesheim. Two Dutchmen and a Belgian will then make their appearance in Halle 39, the venue where this Euro Tour tournament will be played.
We begin the evening session with a match between Ritchie Edhouse and Luke Woodhouse, two men who are currently virtually qualified for the World Grand Prix. Edhouse is almost certain of his spot, while Woodhouse occupies the penultimate qualifying spot. 'The Shed' can therefore scoop important pounds should he make it to the second round.
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Jose de Sousa and Max Hopp then take the stage for the second match of the evening. For 'The Maximiser' it is a joyous moment, as Hopp will be his first Euro Tour entry since April 2022. De Sousa will be playing his eighth Euro Tour of the season, but managed to win only one match in his previous seven appearances.
Maik Kuivenhoven is the first Dutchman in action. Kuivenhoven faces the experienced cunning fox James Wade. Kuivenhoven only played one Euro Tour earlier this season, but did make it to the second round. Wade also does not have the best record on the Euro Tour this season. Four times he already stranded in the first round, while on the other four Euro Tours the second round was the end station.
Next it is the turn of Raymond van Barneveld. The 57-year-old hagenaar starts his tournament against Dom Taylor, who invariably managed to get through the first round on his first three Euro Tours. Van Barneveld started the Euro Tour season badly with three eliminations in the first round, but in the last five Euro Tours 'Barney' made it to at least the second round four times.
Peter Wright will also be looking for a good result on Friday night. 'Snakebite' won last year's European Championship, but it is far from certain whether he can defend his title. Wright only occupies the 28th spot on the Euro Tour Order of Merit and could well use the prize money to maintain his position in the top-32. The Scot starts his tournament against German qualifier Niko Springer, who will play his sixth career Euro Tour tournament.
Martin Lukeman will next cross swords with Jonny Clayton. For Lukeman, it will be his third Euro Tour of 2024, but he has yet to record a victory this season. Clayton has so far played seven Euro Tours and reached the final of the Dutch Darts Championship. He lost to Josh Rock;
For Whitlock, it will also be only his second Euro Tour of the year. 'The Wizard' needs a good result soon, as he is currently well outside the qualifying spots for the World Darts Championship. Whitlock, meanwhile, must also begin to fear for retaining his Tour Card. Rydz is gearing up for his fifth Euro Tour tournament of the year. In his previous four tournaments, he reached the second round twice.
The last spot for the second round goes to Dimitri van den Bergh or Mensur Suljovic. The latter had not qualified for this tournament, but moved on due to a number of cancellations. For 'The Gentle' it will be his first Euro Tour since April 2023. Suljovic, like Whitlock, desperately needs the pounds to keep his Tour Card after this season. However, the Austrian has been showing increasingly good play in recent months, so Suljovic can hold out high hopes that he can still be admired on the PDC circuit after this season. Opponent Van den Bergh won the UK Open and a Players Championship tournament earlier this season, but also regularly suffers an early elimination. 'The Dreammaker' was eliminated in the first round of a Players Championship or Euro Tour tournament fourteen times already. If Van den Bergh does get through the first round, he often gets far in the tournament.
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TV and live stream
The German Darts Championship will be broadcast on PDC TV. As usual with Euro Tour tournaments, the German Darts Championship consists of three tournament days. The afternoon sessions start daily at 12:00, while the evening sessions start at 18:00.
The first round will take place on Friday. The 16 Order of Merit qualifiers and the winners from the various qualifying tournaments then make their appearance. The top-16 seeded players enter the tournament on Saturday in the second round. Sunday will see the denouement of the tournament, starting with the third round in the afternoon session. Sunday evening will be followed by the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals.
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Distribution of prize money
At this Euro Tour tournament, a total of £175,000 in prize money will be divided among the 48 participants. They will receive at least 1250 pounds in starting money. The top-16 seeded players who enter the German Darts Championship from the second round will receive 2,500 pounds anyway.
They do - like the 16 Order of Merit qualifiers starting in the first round - have to win their first match in order for the prize money to count toward the world rankings and the other rankings. The winner of the German Darts Championship 2024 will ultimately go home with the top prize of 30,000 pounds.
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ScheduleGerman Darts Championship 2024
Friday, Aug. 30
First round
Evening session (from 6 p.m.)
Ritchie Edhouse v Luke Woodhouse
Jose De Sousa v Max Hopp
Maik Kuivenhoven v James Wade
Raymond van Barneveld v Dom Taylor
Peter Wright v Niko Springer
Martin Lukeman v Jonny Clayton
Callan Rydz v Simon Whitlock
Mensur Suljovic v Dimitri Van den Bergh
